OCR Text

Lethbridge Herald, The (Newspaper) - July 23, 1973, Lethbridge, Alberta
10 THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD Monday, July 23, 1973 Groups seek solution to drunks BILL GROENEN photos Indian Days Book banned in Calgary sold on local newsstands A treed circular outdoor dance area provided the location for several Indian dance competitions where people of all ages danced their best while judges scrutinized every move in an effort to reach a decision on which three were to get cash rewards' for the best performance. Jim Morning Bull, of Brocket, and hundreds of other Indians were decked out in their traditional best during the four of celebration. Even the young- sters got into ihe old Indian spirit. Three-year-old Duarw Eagle Speaker, of Browning, Mont, is painted and ready to whoop it up in an Indian dance competition for young- sters. A book unavailable in Cal- gary since its distributor, United News, lost it to cus- toms officials is on sale at newsstands in Lethbridge. Leonard Herring, manager of General News, a city wholesale firm for books and magazines, said be had re- ceived no complaints about the book, Inside Linda Love- lace. The book is the auto- biography of the actress who 5 city postmen find comfort in short pants By JEW LOZEROX Herald Staff Writer Post men in hot pants? Well not quite, but at least some Lethbridge mail car- riers are adapting to the hot summer weatber. The adaptation: regular pants which the post men or their wives have shortened in accordance with a post of- fice regulation issued to Can- adian post offices July 1. The regulation allows postal carriers to shorten their pants providing they come to no more than three inches above the knee. The post men must shorten and hem their pants AGT to alter numbers Phone numbers for direc- tory assistance and repair service will change July 29 for customers in the 327 and 326 exchanges. Alberta Gov- ernment Telephones reports. The directory assistance number will change to 411 from 113 and repair service to 611 from 114. The 329 exchange custom- ers arc already being served by these numbers, an AGT spokesman said. at their own expense and must wear three quarter length socks. Reaction to the shortening has been favorable, said Cecil Gordon, supervisor of the let- ter carriers section at the Lethbridge office. At least five of the staff of 36 are wearing the abbreviat e d pants. Those who wear them seem to like them. "It's a 100 per cent im said post man Bernard Carrier. "The new pants are much more comfor- table than the old ones parti- cularly in the hot Asked about the reaction of his customers, the post man said. "We get more reaction from the customers, particu- larly from the young The reaction usually comes in the form of demure smiles. be said. Gil Poirier comment e d, "One day I walked into a farm equipment office and put the mail on the counter. I told the secretary to eat her heart- out. I think I jolted her." ?aid Mr Pciner. ''he- cause she made a few mis- taXes in her typing." Most carriers who have donned the short pants have stuck with them, but one post man discarded them 1hc first day when be was whistled at by a man with a white cane. starred in the pornographic movie, Deep Throat. Why the book is on the stands here and net in Cal- gary is not known. The Toronto Globe and Mail suggested recently that the Lethbridge and Calgary books crossed the border at two different locations. Charles Bell, the collector with the Lethbridge federal customs and excise depart- ment, explained to The Her- ald that books may be screen- ed in Calgary, at the district collector's office, if they are of questionable content This apply for books shipped by ah- or rail, he said. The current situation could happen Mr. Bell said, if books came in by some other kind of transport, such as trucks. The Calgary district collect- or's office declined comment Meanwhile the discrepancy continues. The Globe and Mail quoted Larry Shapiro of United News as saying, "It's the last straw when books banned here can be sold in LetJhbrSdge. What While others stay dry Rain soaks some areas The thunder storm which dumped 1.35 inches of rain on the Lethbridge airport Satur- day evening soaked other parts of Southern Alberta white completely missing others. Indicative of the isolated activity of the storm was the .5 of an inch recorded in downtown Lethbridge. Pinch- er Creek, southwestern Al- berta's dry spot, recorded .49 of an inch while Cardston re- rector for the Alberta De- partment of Agriculture, said the moisture would help crops in the areas where it fell. He said the cereal crops would be helped most with the moisture filling the ker- nels of the fast ripening crops. Since the majority of the hay crops have already been harvested, the rains are too late to'assist them. Tbs Lethbridge weather of- fice reports the area south of 'Calgary will be mostly sunny today and Tuesday with a chance of occasional thun- derstorms in the later after- noon. The temperatures are ex- pected to be in the 75 to 30 degree range both days. show 12.000 attend festivities about two inches in the Fcrt Madeod region. Cardston District Agricul- turist Del Steed said the moisture was a welcome re- lief to the previous dry con- The success of an annual at Stand Off Indian Days citions but added "mrch more moisture will be neef :d to get a good crop recovery." Delton Jensen, district agriculturist for tbe County of Forty Mile in Foremost said no rain was received at ai? in bis district Sherry CUA, regional di- 20 Nova Scotia students arrive liere for program Twenty llth grade stu- dents from SpringhilJ, Nova Sc-otia arrived in Leth- bridge Sunday as part of the federal provincial Young Voyagcur program. The students. 10 boys and 10 girls and two escorts, are participating in the program to "develop a closer under- standing of Canadians living and working in other regions of Twenty Lethbridge stu- dents returned from Quebec a week ago, and now Leth- bridge is piaymg host. The Rotary Club of East Letbbridge is sponsoring the Lethbridge part of 1be pro- gram. While here the students will take in various sights in and around the city inclttdang a tour of tbe city, a trip to Waterton and a trip to tbe Rockport Hotterite colony. an celebration that thrives on a theme can often be deter- mined by the number of lo- cal people directly involved with tbe thane. More natives were in tra- ditional costume and more teepaes were erected at Standoff this year for the four'days of festivities than i? most previous years. More than people at- tended Indian Days on each of the four days of activities which began TO Thursday. Those attending travelled from as far away as New Mexico, the northern United States and from all provinces west of Ontario. Involvement of the public iti Indian dancer many people the chance to imdsr- sl.and some of the Indian cul- tura first hand. The all-Indian rodeo high- lighted Friday and Saturday ;divides while tbe Small Boy dancers put everybody in a festive mood early each day with traditional song and dance. Candy, balloons and other guts were presented to youngsters while adults were served a scrumptious noon meal Saturday as tbe Blood reserve tribe extended Indian hospitality to all visitors. V of L sets orientation A freshmen orientation eve- ning will be at the Uni- versity of Lethbridge at 6 p.m. Aug. 9. The evening is bdng plan- red to welcome prospective students to the university. About 200 stodents are ex- pected to attend the event, Jhe third of i's kind held by the U of L. Paresis and of new students welcome to attend. By JIM GRANT Herald Staff Writer Everything from stricter coctrols on bars to street- level counselling has -been suggested as possible partial solutions to the 5th Street S. drunk problem, but most con- cerned people agree there isn't one simple answer to tbe problem. Concerned individuals and organizations seeking the ans- wers suggest that a combina- tion cf the partial solutions may alleviate or at least reduce the drunk problem in the city, a Herald study re- vels. TJs Lethbridge Police Com- mission recommends stricter and more frequent inspections of 5th Street S. bars by the Alberta Liquor Control Board are necessary. The commis- sion has sent a letter to the ALCB requesting the same. A. Elliott, chairman of the ALCB, told The Herald in a telephone interview from Edmonton that be took im- mediate action upon receipt of the police commission's letter and heavier surveil- lance is now in force. ALCB inspectors and local people assisting the liquor board with surveillance of the hotel bars are on the look- out for bartenders who serve liquor to drunks or continue to serve liquor to persons reaching an intoxicated state. City police chief Ralph Micfcalson says street coun- selling may help reduce the dunk problem. He suggests street counselling would be a better preventive practice than tha counselling now be- ing done in police cells. No street counsellors The city has no street counsellors, but there is counselling in the city police cells and provincial court on a daily basis. "They've got to get to them (drunks) before they're charged." he adds. "Police are highly committed to pre- vention but that type of work (street counselling) is out of our line." Norm Briscoe. court coun- sellor with the Alberta Alco- holism and Drug Abuse Com- mission, says counselling in the police ceBs is very effect- ive because it reaches the drunk when he or she is in a remorse stage. He claims an average of two of those counselled in a month sober up, but suggests more could be helped if there were more counsellors avail- able to work with tbe drunks. Frank MacDonald, court counsellor with the John Howard Society, also claims he is getting good results but suggests metre counsellors who are able to reach the drunks are needed. Theydon't have to be professionals, he adds. He believes street counsel- ling wouldn't be effective be- cause "they won't listen to you on the street." The city definitely needs a better place for counselling, such as a half way bouse where a counsellor could work directly with the problem per- son ever a longer period of time, he says. Mr. MacDonald, a native himself, says the city also needs a centre for native peo- ple which would give them a place to go when they're released from jail in the mornings. Beer affects thinking Released prisoners now Butcher. '-The home has be- just wait around for the bars come a filling station and a to open and end up back in parking place at night." jafl again that evening. Air. Briscoe claims the band He empasizes that native councils for Southern Alber- people must be reached be- ta's reserves should take on fore they get into tbe bar or more responsibility for the liquor store. Indian portion of the drunk "One glass of beer and they problem in the city, begin to think A liquor outlet, court he says. house, and jail should be es- Captain Ron Butcher, of the tablished on the reserves, he Salvation Army, says the city concludes, needs a place "where you City officials, professional can stick the guy into a bed people and the business com- and give them intravenous munity have been aware of until they dry out." He sug- the, drunk problem in the 5th gests such, a facility should Street Gardens area have at least 10 beds. of the city for several years He also says organizations now but very little positive in the city must work closely action has been taken to al- together, rather than in dif- leviate it. ferent directions, toward a In the summer of 1971 the common goal reducing the police commission, city police number of drunks in the city, chief. Canada Manpower, Captain Butcher says the Department of Indian Af- Salvation Army has some con- fairs and Indian Social Ser- tact with the drunks on street vices met in response to corn- level. Each week the Salva- plaints from 5th Street S. tion Army goes into the bars businessmen about the drunk on 5th Street S. and offers problem on their street. help to anyone who wants it The signatures of 26 mer- He also claims friends of chants appeared on a sub- alcoholics are hindering the mission which claimed loit- work of counsellors uninten- ering, people brawling and tially "by giving the guy a staggering druakenly. the bottle when be needs a molesting of iiEocent pass- drink." and panhandling were Much of the prob- making 5th Street S. an un- lem faced today can be tcac- desirable place to shop and ed directly back to tbe faro- had created numerous com- ily structure, says Captain plaints from custaners. Recommendations ignored Some of the merchants who signed tbe submission in 1971 told The Herald tins month that there wasn't much of a problem with drunks on SUi Street and there has never been a drunk problem in tbe past worth mentioning. The groups of people trying to find a solution to the pro- blem in-1971, after several meetings, suggested that the merchants yucseiit some workable solutions to their problem: that police carry oui constant surveillance, that bars hire more security guards, that Canada Man- power be more in choosing transient workers for Ibis area and (hat an alcohol treatment centre be established in the city. It was also suggested in 1971 that bars become more con- cerned whh UTS drunk pro- Mem and limit UK numbei of drinks -old to certain people for inspectors to be more active in enforcing the drink restrictions. Masy of tre recommenda- tions bave been ignored, with the only major change in the past two years being the re- versal cf attitudes by cer- tain 5th Street S. business- men. In 1971 the? were willing to admit there was a drunk problem on their street and they tried to do about it. This year they ap- parently are willing to pre- tend the problem reaDy isn't there. According to cliy ponce statistics, the picfotesn is much worse this year than in 1971. Two years ago there were 355 arrests made in the city during June for offences nnder the Alberta Liquor Act This year there were 570 ar- rests in June for similar of- fences.
;